2013 iowa dot engineering intern development and...
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2013 Iowa DOT Engineering Intern Development and Management Program
Final ReportNovember 2013
Sponsored byIowa Department of Transportation(InTrans Project 13-464)Federal Highway Administration
About the Institute for Transportation
The mission of the Institute for Transportation (InTrans) at Iowa State University is to develop and implement innovative methods, materials, and technologies for improving transportation efficiency, safety, reliability, and sustainability while improving the learning environment of students, faculty, and staff in transportation-related fields.
Disclaimer Notice
The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the information presented herein. The opinions, findings and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the sponsors.
The sponsors assume no liability for the contents or use of the information contained in this document. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation.
The sponsors do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers’ names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document.
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Iowa Department of Transportation Statements Federal and state laws prohibit employment and/or public accommodation discrimination on the basis of age, color, creed, disability, gender identity, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or veteran’s status. If you believe you have been discriminated against, please contact the Iowa Civil Rights Commission at 800-457-4416 or the Iowa Department of Transportation affirmative action officer. If you need accommodations because of a disability to access the Iowa Department of Transportation’s services, contact the agency’s affirmative action officer at 800-262-0003.
The preparation of this document was financed in part through funds provided by the Iowa Department of Transportation through its “Second Revised Agreement for the Management of Research Conducted by Iowa State University for the Iowa Department of Transportation” and its amendments.
The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Iowa Department of Transportation or the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.
Technical Report Documentation Page
1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No.
InTrans Project 13-464
4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date
2013 Iowa DOT Engineering Intern Development and Management Program November 2013
6. Performing Organization Code
7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No.
Shauna Hallmark, Larry Cormicle, and Matt Rouse InTrans Project 13-464
9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)
Institute for Transportation
Iowa State University
2711 South Loop Drive, Suite 4700
Ames, IA 50010-8664
11. Contract or Grant No.
12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Iowa Department of Transportation
800 Lincoln Way
Ames, IA 50010
Federal Highway Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20590
Final Report
14. Sponsoring Agency Code
MAP-21 90-13-INTN-000
15. Supplementary Notes
Visit www.intrans.iastate.edu for color pdfs of this and other research reports.
16. Abstract
The Institute for Transportation (InTrans) at Iowa State University (ISU) developed an internship mentoring program in collaboration
with the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide additional mentorship to both student interns and Iowa DOT intern
managers. For the summer 2013 Iowa DOT Engineering Intern Development and Management Program, this report summarizes the
following:
Mentoring activities conducted by ISU
Results of the different intern program success assessments that were conducted
Experiences, lessons learned, and recommendations
Program benefits that were realized
17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement
DOT—experiential learning—internship program—transportation interns No restrictions.
19. Security Classification (of this
report)
20. Security Classification (of this
page)
21. No. of Pages 22. Price
Unclassified. Unclassified. 50 NA
Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized
2013 IOWA DOT ENGINEERING INTERN
DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
Final Report
November 2013
Principal Investigator
Shauna Hallmark, Professor and Interim Director
Institute for Transportation
Iowa State University
Authors
Shauna Hallmark, Larry Cormicle, and Matt Rouse
Sponsored by
Iowa Department of Transportation and
Federal Highway Administration
(MAP-21 90-13-INTN-000)
Preparation of this report was financed in part
through funds provided by the Iowa Department of Transportation
through its Research Management Agreement with the
Institute for Transportation,
(InTrans Project 13-464)
A report from
Institute for Transportation
Iowa State University
2711 South Loop Drive, Suite 4700
Ames, IA 50010-8664
Phone: 515-294-8103
Fax: 515-294-0467
www.intrans.iastate.edu
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ vii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... ix
1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................1
1.1 Background ....................................................................................................................1 1.2 Program Support ............................................................................................................1 1.3 Internship Program.........................................................................................................2
2. DEVELOP AND PRESENT TRAINING MATERIAL .............................................................4
2.1 Discipline-Specific Material ..........................................................................................4
2.2 Iowa DOT Supervisor Information ................................................................................5
2.3 Intern Orientation Workshop .........................................................................................6
3. ONE-ON-ONE MENTORING ....................................................................................................8
3.1 Initial Contacts with Interns and Supervisors ................................................................8 3.2 Summer Mentoring ........................................................................................................9 3.4 Fall Mentoring ...............................................................................................................9
4. SUMMARY OF INTERN ACTIVITIES ..................................................................................11
5. ASSESS PROGRAM SUCCESS ..............................................................................................13
5.1 Intern Exit Interviews ..................................................................................................13 4.2 Intern Videos ................................................................................................................16 4.3 Summary of Supervisor Feedback ...............................................................................16
5. SUMMARY ...............................................................................................................................18
5.1 Summary of Experiences and Recommendations........................................................18 5.2 Program Benefits .........................................................................................................21
APPENDIX A. SAMPLE STUDENT PROGRESS REPORT AND INTERN
INFORMATION................................................................................................................23
APPENDIX B. DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC MATERIAL ................................................................27
APPENDIX C. INTERN ORIENTATION AGENDA .................................................................31
APPENDIX D. SUPERVISOR SURVEY ....................................................................................33
APPENDIX E. SUPERVISOR SURVEY RESPONSES ..............................................................37
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1. Locations of 2013 Iowa DOT interns ............................................................................3
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1. Sample “menu” for Iowa DOT supervisors ....................................................................5 Table 4.1. Summary of exit intern interviews for remote interns ..................................................14
Table 4.2. Summary of supervisor responses ................................................................................17
vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank the individuals from the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) and the
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Iowa Division who were instrumental in developing,
guiding, and implementing the internship program. The authors thank the supervisors of the
interns at the Iowa DOT who provided valuable guidance to the student interns and feedback on
the program.
The student interns are acknowledged for their participation in the program and the feedback
they provided. The authors also acknowledge and thank individuals at the Institute of
Transportation for their invaluable support with administrative and logistical aspects of the
program.
Finally, the authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Iowa DOT and the FHWA
Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) initiative in funding the internship
program and for providing students invaluable experiential learning opportunities related to their
programs of study.
ix
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) has a long-standing commitment to experiential
education. Experiential education provides real-world context to students, which is important for
connecting educational concepts to professional practice. Internships also provide the
opportunity for students to get to know the Iowa DOT, which encourages them to consider a
career with the Iowa DOT upon graduation.
In a successful internship model, students are mentored by working professionals who apply
educational concepts to professional engineering practice. In reality, supervisors may be
technically proficient but not as skilled in mentoring students and drawing connections between
classroom studies and state of the practice. In addition, students often need instruction beyond
the classroom to have a successful internship in areas such as time management or
professionalism.
Accordingly, the Institute for Transportation (InTrans) at Iowa State University (ISU) developed
an internship mentoring program in collaboration with the Iowa DOT to provide additional
mentorship to both student interns and Iowa DOT intern managers. For the 2013 summer Iowa
DOT Engineering Intern Development and Management Program, this report summarizes the
following:
Mentoring activities conducted by ISU
Results of the different intern program success assessments that were conducted
Experiences, lessons learned, and recommendations
Program benefits that were realized
The final progress reports for remote interns (stationed outside of Ames) were generally very
complimentary about their summer internship experiences. The interns appreciated the
mentoring that their supervisors provided. They also expressed their appreciation for the variety
of types of field experiences that they received on various projects.
Based on progress reports and exit interviews from interns stationed in Ames, the Iowa DOT
summer internship program was also largely successful from their perspective. The educational
component of the internships stationed in Ames seemed strong in most cases.
The most common disappointment encountered among interns was the level of challenge of their
work assignments. Many felt that they were prepared to take on more technically-difficult tasks
or shoulder more responsibility. However, several of these interns were cognizant of the
difficulties associated with bringing new interns up-to-speed in a short time and stated that the
level of challenge improved over the course of the summer.
Interns with even just one year of engineering education prior to their internship found the
learning experience very beneficial. Several interns were retained for Fall 2013 and the Iowa
DOT decided to mentor these interns.
1
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) has a long-standing commitment to experiential
education. Experiential education provides real-world context to students, which is important for
connecting educational concepts to professional practice. Internships also provide the
opportunity for students to get to know the Iowa DOT, which encourages them to consider a
career with the Iowa DOT upon graduation.
In a successful internship model, students are mentored by working professionals who apply
educational concepts to professional engineering practice. In reality, supervisors may be
technically proficient but not as skilled in mentoring students and drawing connections between
classroom studies and state of the practice. In addition, students often need instruction beyond
the classroom to have a successful internship in areas such as time management or
professionalism.
Accordingly, the Institute for Transportation (InTrans) at Iowa State University (ISU) developed
an internship mentoring program in collaboration with the Iowa DOT to provide additional
mentorship to both student interns and Iowa DOT intern managers.
This report summarizes mentoring activities conducted by InTrans for the 2013 summer
internship program, which included the following activities:
Meet with the Iowa DOT to determine their mentoring needs to conduct their internship
program
Develop summaries by topic areas of potential activities for students
Develop and present training information on professionalism and program expectations for
student internship orientation meetings
Provide information for Iowa DOT managers
Provide one-on-one mentoring for student interns
Summarize the mentoring program including lessons learned
1.2 Program Support
Support was provided by InTrans in coordination with the ISU Department of Civil,
Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE). InTrans worked with the DOT managers
and students to serve as a resource to bridge the gap between classroom learning and
professional work experience. Two lecturers in CCEE, Dr. Matt Rouse and Larry Cormicle,
served as the main mentors. They were selected since they have significant experience serving as
advisors and mentors.
2
1.3 Internship Program
The Iowa DOT recruited and hired student interns for the 2013 summer season. The following
summarizes the intern applications and hiring:
231 applications were submitted for consideration from 20 different educational institutions
82 out of 82 positions were filled
70 were engineering positions
12 were business majors or geographic information system (GIS) positions
Students were selected from the following schools:
1 from Arizona State University
2 from Des Moines Area Community College
5 from Dordt
54 from Iowa State University
1 from Simpson College
9 from the University of Iowa
1 from the University of Minnesota
1 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
7 from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville
Start date was May 13 or May 20, 2013
End date for employment varied depending on Fall semester class start date at each
university (August 16 to 30, 2013)
28 different Iowa DOT offices/locations had interns (Figure 1.1)
4
2. DEVELOP AND PRESENT TRAINING MATERIAL
The team developed material for students and Iowa DOT intern supervisors to provide structure
for the mentoring program. The team also participated in the orientation workshops. Each is
described in the sections below.
2.1 Discipline-Specific Material
One objective of the mentoring program was to help Iowa DOT intern supervisors draw a
connection between the classroom and summer internship work. The team recruited experts from
each major discipline represented by the interns and developed a “menu” of discipline-specific
experiences and activities that students could engage in that were based on learning objectives,
which could supplement coursework. Disciplines covered included Civil, Construction, and
Environmental Engineering (Construction, Traffic and Safety, Design, Materials, and
Environment); Finance/Accounting; and Human Resources/Communications.
An example of one of the menus is provided in Table 2.1. Items 1 through 3 were common for
all disciplines because they represent general skills, except that Item 3 was added to/customized
for students interning in traffic operations or safety in this example. In addition, Item 4 was
specific for students interning in traffic operations or safety in this example. Discipline-specific
material was incorporated into a progress report as shown in Appendix A. Material developed for
each discipline is provided in Appendix B.
5
Table 2.1. Sample “menu” for Iowa DOT supervisors
Topic Date
Completed
1. Communication
Participate in/observe meetings
Make a formal presentation to supervisor or other construction team members
Write a formal report to supervisor
Write a memorandum to supervisor or construction team
Make a short video presentation about your experience as an IDOT intern
Write a hand-written thank-you to someone who helped improve your intern experience
2. Understand business relationships/team building
Attend a public hearing
Attend a preconstruction meeting
Attend a prebid meeting
observe a bid letting
Learn about pre-qualification and bid requirements
3. Application of Commercial Software
Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access)
List traffic operations/GIS/safety software packages utilized
4. Traffic and Safety
Conduct a spot speed study, calculate mean speed, standard deviation, 85th percentile
speed, and 10 mph pace
Conduct an intersection turning moving count
Calculate the crash rate for a segment or intersection
Review a collision diagram and identify the most common crash types
Conduct a volume study, calculate ADT, headway, and fleet mix
Calculate LOS for an intersection or other roadway facility
Calculate the optimal phasing for a simple 2 phase intersection
Conduct a safety audit
Check sign and/or pavement marking retroreflectivity
Evaluate stop sign compliance
Conduct an environmental impact statement
2.2 Iowa DOT Supervisor Information
The team developed tips for supervisors on dealing with student workers. This was particularly
useful given it was potentially the first job for some student interns and student interns may need
guidance in adapting beyond simply technical expertise. In addition, intern supervisors may not
be aware of the objectives for internships or how to link summer work to the classroom. Material
was developed into a one-page brief, which was provided to intern supervisors at the beginning
of the internship program, and included the following:
6
An internship is not just a summer job. Remember that the primary objective of an internship
is to provide realistic work experiences for the educational benefit of the intern. Iowa DOT
formally acknowledges this principle.
A secondary objective for the Iowa DOT is to identify and groom potential full-time
employees, so the work assigned to interns should be challenging. Give interns the
opportunity to display initiative and think for themselves.
Be a mentor as well as a supervisor. Remember your own first professional job, and try to
anticipate the insecurities we all feel when put into a new environment. Encourage interns to
ask questions and voice concerns.
At the outset, develop a set of learning objectives for each intern appropriate for the duties
they will be assigned. This is required by ISU for interns to receive academic credit for their
internship (see attached documents). Involve the intern in the development of the objectives.
To help with this, a menu of suggested activities that would supplement interns’ academic
coursework is also attached.
After each project or assignment, provide feedback to interns in regard to their performance.
This can be as simple as telling them, “great job.”
For longer-term projects, provide deadlines for some interim reports/updates. This can help
interns develop time management skills.
Provide opportunities to practice communication skills. Ask interns to make written or oral
reports and presentations.
Each supervisor was also provided a menu of activities specific to their discipline (as described
in the previous section).
2.3 Intern Orientation Workshop
Mentors Larry Cormicle and Matt Rouse developed a one-hour lecture coaching new interns on
professionalism, job expectations, appropriate attitude, and making a positive impression on
employers. This lecture was delivered three separate times during new employee orientation for
interns and co-op students at the Iowa DOT offices on May 13, 2013 for about 60 interns, May
20, 2013 for about 20 interns, and again on May 28, 2013 for 2 interns. The agenda is shown in
Appendix C.
During this lecture, the mentors introduced themselves, outlined their roles as teachers,
professional resources, and intern advocates. The mentors also introduced templates for mid-
term and end-of-term progress reports as well as a final video assignment. These assignments are
discussed in more detail in Chapter 3. Interns were urged to use the progress report templates to
keep track of their activities over the course of the internship to gain perspective on their
experience and help them seek learning opportunities within their respective fields.
7
A handout was also delivered to the interns with tips on how to be successful in their internships.
The handout emphasized the following points:
Ask for feedback on a regular basis
Go above and beyond your job description
Be professional and consistent
Record your accomplishments
Act like you’re a full-time employee
Secure a mentor within the Iowa DOT
Have a solid understanding of the broader DOT organization and business
8
3. ONE-ON-ONE MENTORING
The Iowa DOT provided ISU mentors with a list of students participating in the 2013 Iowa DOT
internship program. Immediately following the May 13, 2023 intern orientation meeting, the
project mentors decided to divide the interns into two distinct groups with Cormicle assuming
responsibility for the interns assigned to the field at remote locations (42 interns) and Rouse
assuming responsibility for the 40 interns primarily engaged in widely-varying office/laboratory
work, the majority of whom were assigned to the Ames Iowa DOT offices. It was clear that these
two groups would present distinctly different challenges and likely have differing needs.
(Cormicle has expertise in construction management and was uniquely qualified to address
issues for field-based interns.)
3.1 Initial Contacts with Interns and Supervisors
Shortly after the orientation workshop, the ISU mentors sent each intern a blank progress report
template via email. One part of the progress report template asked the interns a series of
questions with the following broad objectives:
Encourage reflection on their internship experiences relative to their education
Project their internship experiences onto possible future careers
Probe the educational quality of their work assignments
Identify difficulties with which a mentor might be of help
The second part of the progress report template included a table with the “menu” of beneficial
experiences tailored to each discipline (see Section 2.1) in which the interns could track their
experiences. The table was included to provide suggestions for enterprising interns to seek out
educational experiences and activities within their field to enhance the educational component of
the internship.
The students were requested to complete the progress report template as appropriate and return it
via email to their respective mentors by June 24, 2013 (mid-term) and again by August 9, 2013
(end-of-term). A sample of one of these progress report templates is included in Appendix B.
The progress report templates were also emailed to each Iowa DOT intern supervisor with a
request for feedback. The objectives of sending the progress report templates to Iowa DOT
supervisors were to open a discussion between the mentors and supervisors regarding the
internships and to provide supervisors with educational suggestions that might be woven into
intern work assignments. A document titled Advice for Supervisors of Interns was sent along
with the progress report template. This email message was followed up generally with an
introductory phone call by the mentors to the Iowa DOT supervisors as an introduction and
opportunity for discussion about the internship plans.
9
3.2 Summer Mentoring
Throughout the summer, the mentors had periodic phone calls or meetings with the interns. For
interns working at remote construction sites around the state, in-person meetings were generally
not feasible. For these interns, even periodic phone contact was often difficult given that interns
frequently didn’t carry cell phones themselves or were precluded from phone conversations for
noise or safety concerns. Some interns could be reached by email or would return calls, but
contacts could be characterized as very intermittent.
The 43 remote summer interns worked in the following Iowa DOT offices: Cedar Rapids,
Chariton, Cherokee, Council Bluffs, Creston, Davenport, Des Moines, Jefferson, Manchester,
Marshalltown, Mt. Pleasant, New Hampton, and Sioux City.
Interviewing the 43 summer interns that were located outside of the Ames area consisted of
phone interviews with a portion of the interns. Phone conversations overall were very short and
several interns were not contacted by phone during normal working hours except by leaving
them a voice mail to call Cormicle back with any concerns or questions about their summer
intern experiences. Interns responded to a voice mail message by email, or not at all.
When asked how their summer internship experience was going, the general answer was “fine,”
“great,” and “working lots of overtime on site observations, and I don’t have time to talk now.”
None of the 43 students contacted Cormicle by initiating a phone call. Yet, every one of these
interns completed their two written reports (mid-term and final report) and submitted them to
Cormicle by email by the required deadlines.
For students stationed in Ames, contact between mentor and interns was easier. Rouse was able
to speak with each intern by phone at least twice and corresponded regularly via email with
several interns. In addition, periodic small-group, brown-bag lunch meetings on picnic tables
outside the Ames DOT offices proved amiable and convenient for many interns. All interns were
invited to such meetings with more than 80 percent of the interns stationed in Ames attending at
least once. These meetings were generally held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. throughout June
and July with anywhere from one to six interns in attendance. Conversations were informal, but
topics such as living in Ames, the DOT work environment, career goals, work-family priorities,
real-world engineering challenges, and career experiences were ones that flowed easily among
attendees. Many of these interns commented that they would have liked to participate in more of
such lunch meetings given the opportunity.
3.4 Fall Mentoring
The Iowa DOT took over mentoring the interns/co-ops who continued working after mid-August
when InTrans at ISU completed their summer mentoring. Thirty-five interns and five co-ops
continued working for the Iowa DOT, usually with the same Iowa DOT supervisor. The interns
were part-time in various offices and divisions in the central complex and field while they
continued working on their college degrees. The co-ops continued working full-time with three
10
in the field offices and two in the central complex and they will complete their term of
employment at the end of December.
The offices where the interns worked in the central complex and field were as follows: Office of
Safety, Office of Accounting, Office of Research & Technology, Jefferson Resident
Construction Engineer (RCE), District 1 Materials, New Hampton RCE, Sioux City RCE,
Creston RCE, District 5 Materials, Cedar Rapids RCE, Manchester RCE, Davenport RCE,
Office of Design, Office of Construction and Materials, Office of Location & Environment,
Office of Traffic & Safety, and Office of Maintenance. The five co-ops are working in the
District 2 Office, Council Bluffs RCE, Manchester RCE, Office of Bridges & Structures, and
Office of Design.
The Iowa DOT supervisors will continue to mentor the students and submit quarterly reports on
their progress.
The summary of tasks that the students were assigned were the same or similar to what InTrans
reported in the next chapter of this report.
11
4. SUMMARY OF INTERN ACTIVITIES
It was not the intent of the internship mentoring program to monitor the work assigned to each
intern given that this was the responsibility of the Iowa DOT supervisors. However, students did
note work accomplished in their progress reports. Because this information may be of interest to
the Iowa DOT, a brief summary is provided below.
Summary of tasks that were assigned to interns by their supervisors at remote DOT offices:
Attended and observed meetings with DOT staff and with contractor’s staff on projects
Observed and inspected different phases of construction for a variety of project types:
bridges, road resurfacing, road paving (HMA and PCC), utilities, earthwork, and pavement
repairs
Assisted a survey crew with “as-builts,” surveying “Right of Way”
Assisted a survey crew with field staking and the use of GPS technology in surveying
Performed various materials testing tasks: Proctor tests on soil and aggregate sample, slump
and air entrainment content tests, molding of concrete cylinders, moisture content testing of
soils
Incorporation of old construction plans into the DOT internal system (ERMS) using ArgMap.
Participated in various meetings involving the EPA, US Army Corp of Engineers, and
Fishery and Wildlife agency
Participated in training for: GIS, Microstation and Geopak
Participated in training for: stream investigations, soil stabilization and design workshop
Observed and recorded actual work quantities on various projects: bridges, paving,
earthwork, utilities, pavement repairs, pavement demolition
Operated GPS surveying equipment to set grade stakes for earthwork operations on various
projects
Interpretation of contract documents with contractors
Coordination of traffic control on project sites
Observed and inspected the installation of reinforcing steel on various structures
Observed and inspected a bridge overlay project
Measured in-place work items to verify compliance with contract documents as well as
certification of actual quantities of work in place
Inspected structural steel on a bridge project
Inspected the installation of sub-drains
Assisted with the “sounding” of an existing bridge deck to determine the locations for bridge
deck patching
Observed and inspected the installation of driven steel piling foundations on a bridge project
Processed required documents for extra work orders and payment applications from
contractors
Observed and inspected the replacement of bridge beams and the repairs to a damaged bridge
structure
Used various software applications as part of job duties: Microsoft Office, Field Manager,
Microstation, Adobe Acrobat, Payroll software, FieldBook, Trimble RTK GPS, GeoPAK,
ProjectWise Explorer
12
Summary of activities for the Ames-based interns:
Creating various health and safety multimedia tools for DOT employees
Visiting wetland mitigation sites during different stages of construction, research on forested
wetlands, Air Pruning methods of seedlings and the advantages and disadvantages of using
wire tree cages vs. tree tubes, assisting with wetland delineations, weekly meetings
discussing different stream mitigation methods, and waste water sampling
Customizing software called “gINT” for the soils lab. I read code in their old programs, and
add functions to “gINT”, so soils lab can run tests and store data with it in the future
Publishing GIS data to be consumed by district maintenance personnel and other
departments; i.e. paint reflectivity data, scenic easements, interstate crossover locations,
interstate closure gate locations, welcome center/rest area locations, etc.
Creating information, location, quantity, plan and profile, cross section and traffic control
sheets for highway projects
Travelling to a city in Iowa and collect free-flow speed data from vehicles on US/IA
highways in the different speed transition zones in a city
Performing GPR and Friction data analysis, FWD, Friction, and Smoothness testing on roads
all over Iowa, Servicing DOT vehicles, organizing data input and filing testing results
Building the desktop version of the Driver’s License Practice Test and the Mobile Interactive
Bike Map
Performing PCC and HMA aggregate sampling and testing, mainly sieve analysis
Observing job sites (cement and asphalt), sampling from rock quarries and sand pits,
gradations, and observing testing done in the lab
Reviewing bid proposals in response to RFP for a Statewide Traffic Operations Center.
Assisting the award winning contractor with initial startup
collecting intersection approach IDs, transportation node IDs, and transportation link IDs for
each expressway, US and Iowa Highway intersection points in the state of Iowa
Updating the Workforce Planning Model and the recruiting and hiring processes
Running tests on recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) to acquire asphalt content and absorption
percentages
Collecting and analyzing crash data for and the writing of HSIP Project Effectiveness
Reports
Creating a Virtual Museum from the basic shell and inputting my design for the site
Spatially locating “As-built” plans in a GIS system
Configuring and testing new trials of the traffic analytic software Abacus and TrafficVision
for the ENTERPRISE Video Analytics Project
Running aggregate tests such as abrasion testing, specific gravity tests, floating coal and
shale, pore index tests, freeze and thaw testing, and weighing up samples
Creating spreadsheets to support cost such as: Preliminary Engineering, Construction
Engineering, Construction, and other cost that are incurred during a project
13
5. ASSESS PROGRAM SUCCESS
Another responsibility of the ISU mentoring team was to help assess the success of the internship
program for the Iowa DOT. This assessment included exit interviews for interns and a survey for
Iowa DOT intern supervisors.
5.1 Intern Exit Interviews
A final exit interview with each intern was conducted in August in which interns could speak in
more depth about their final progress reports or add suggestions not covered specifically in the
progress report template. For interns stationed at remote construction sites, the exit interviews
were conducted by phone. For those stationed in Ames, the exit interviews were usually
conducted in person in the Iowa DOT cafeteria. The ISU mentors used the following questions as
a guide to discuss the internship experience with each intern:
Do you have any suggestions for improving the DOT’s internship program for future interns?
Was there anything you found disappointing about your internship?
How would you characterize the work environment at the DOT for interns?
How challenging, in general, were the work assignments given to you?
The difference between an internship and a summer job is the educational component of the
internship. How was the balance between the work emphasis and educational emphasis in
your experience?
Do you feel you gained a good understanding of the DOT, its mission, business, and culture
over the course of the summer?
Can you explain why you don’t plan to seek full-time employment with the DOT in the
future? (for students who answered undecided or do not plan to apply on final progress report
template to the question about whether they will seek full-time employment with the DOT)
Do you see any benefit to the mentoring we provided through ISU over the course of the
summer?
Would you prefer to have more or less contact with such a mentor if you were to do this
again?
Were the assignments the mentors gave you appropriate in length and frequency?
Did writing the progress reports help you put your internship into perspective?
Is there anything that you’ll take from your internship experience that you think will
influence the course of your future?
Summary for Remote Interns
The final progress reports for remote interns were generally very complimentary about their
summer internship experiences. The interns appreciated the mentoring that their supervisors
provided. They also expressed their appreciation for the variety of types of field experiences that
they received on various projects.
14
One of the questions that the interns responded to in their final progress reports was, “How likely
are you to seek permanent employment with the Iowa DOT after you complete your degree?”
Table 4.1 summarizes the responses (with 43 respondents).
Table 4.1. Summary of exit intern interviews for remote interns
Will definitely apply
1 2
Undecided
3 4
Don’t plan to apply
5
13 7 16 3 4
30% 16% 37% 7% 9%
Note: Percentages total 99% due to rounding
Almost half of the summer interns are either definitely considering apply or almost definitely
considering applying to the Iowa DOT for a full-time position after receiving their undergraduate
degree.
With these 43 interns working at various offices performing field observations and inspections,
their experiences varied widely depending on the type of project.
A few students had not yet taken upper level civil engineering courses as part of their
undergraduate education and commented that they still learned a lot with the individual
mentoring of their supervisors and the resident construction engineers.
Several interns commented on their exposure to problem solving on the project and to teamwork
among the DOT employees and the contractor’s employees.
Several interns either were reading blueprints/plans for the first time or had a prior course that
they felt prepared them well to work as an intern.
A few found that their on-the-job work as a material tester was repetitive and not very
challenging after mastering the skill. Others found this testing experience valuable as it
reinforced the content of an undergraduate engineering course.
Summary for Interns Stationed in Ames
Based on progress reports and exit interviews, the Iowa DOT summer internship program was
largely successful from the perspective of interns stationed in Ames. With a few notable
exceptions, interns found the DOT’s work environment comfortable and very positive. Work
assignments were generally viewed as both educational and relevant to future professional
careers.
By the end of the summer, approximately 70 percent of the interns stationed in Ames indicated
that they will likely seek full-time employment with the Iowa DOT in the future. Of the
approximately 15 percent of students who indicated that they were unlikely to seek full-time
15
employment with the Iowa DOT, about half explained that this decision had nothing to do with
the DOT itself but that they had specific plans in other fields or geographic locations. About 15
percent of the interns indicated that they were undecided about seeking full-time positions at the
DOT.
The educational component of the internships seemed strong in most cases. The Office of
Location and Environment and the Office of Finance seemed particularly well prepared to
provide interns with educational experiences, workshops, field trips, on-the-job mentoring, and
opportunities to learn outside of normal work activities. One student from the Office of Location
and Environment even commented that the internship felt more like school than a job.
The most common disappointment encountered among the interns was the level of challenge of
the work assignments. Many felt that they were prepared to take on more technically-difficult
tasks or shoulder more responsibility. However, several of these interns were cognizant of the
difficulties associated with bringing new interns up-to-speed in a short time and stated that the
level of challenge improved over the course of the summer.
Another occasional complaint was that the person(s) working directly with the intern seemed
unprepared at the beginning of the summer to use the intern productively. It should be noted here
that, in many cases, the DOT employee directing and making work assignments for the intern
was not the person listed as the intern’s official supervisor. Some interns also reported periods
with nothing to do often related to weather.
Regarding the mentoring provided through InTrans, most of the interns indicated that the level of
contact with their mentor seemed about right. Of the interns stationed in Ames, many also said
that they would have enjoyed more opportunity for face-to-face contact (maybe meeting in a
small group setting for lunch once a month or so).
Interns also commonly identified and appreciated the mentor’s role as an intern advocate outside
the DOT organization to whom they could turn for advice with conflicts in the workplace. This
aspect of the mentoring program was exercised by three interns that felt caught up in conflicts
among full-time employees.
Some interns also stated that they appreciated the opportunity to discuss big-picture issues such
as long-term careers, engineering challenges, and education.
The progress reports were well received generally in terms of length and frequency. Several
students followed mentor advice to track their activities on a daily or weekly schedule and stated
that this regimen helped them reflect on their overall experience. Others clearly were glad that
the progress reports were relatively infrequent and could be completed in a cursory way with
little effort if so desired by the intern.
16
4.2 Intern Videos
The Iowa DOT requested that interns develop a short video describing their work experience,
which would provide anecdotal information on what went well and what did not. The videos
were requested so that the DOT could use the material for recruiting and to assess the success of
the program.
Even with several emails sent to all summer interns by ISU faculty and Iowa DOT staff, the
interns found the video portion of their final report somewhat confusing and unclear how to
complete. Nonetheless, 60 videos were submitted to the Iowa DOT (Mike Coon).
The video assignment received mixed reviews. Some interns took the assignment seriously and
were creative in assembling group videos discussing their internships. Others definitely felt
pushed outside their comfort zone and would have preferred a written format. Still others
indicated that with no quality control, they just produced a low-quality video that had marginal
value to themselves or anyone else.
In addition, the large file sizes generated by the assignment led to difficulty in sending videos by
email and caused considerable issues in delivering the assignment on time. This aspect of the
video assignment, if continued, should be streamlined in the future.
4.3 Summary of Supervisor Feedback
In an effort to gather written feedback from supervisors at the end of the summer internship
program, a survey was prepared and sent to all Iowa DOT supervisors in the form of a link to a
SurveyMonkey survey that was sent via email on August 9, 2013. The survey questions are
shown in Appendix D.
Of the 30 supervisors who were sent the survey invitation, 14 completed the survey (47 percent).
The survey was deactivated and the results were downloaded from SurveyMonkey on
September 6, 2013. A compilation of the results is provided in Appendix E. A few selected
quotes from supervisor responses follow:
I believe the program is positive. Summer help, Internships, or Co-op programs are excellent for
the intern and the employer. We were able to cover staffing gaps while providing the students an
opportunity to learn hands on.
It is a great program to help future engineers to gain practical experience and also help with
inspection in the field.
Students were very positive and eager to learn.
17
As with any intern program, they not only help us fill a staffing void, but possibly improve our
ability to hire experienced interns full-time.
When asked to suggest improvements to the summer intern program, supervisor responses varied
considerably depending on the type of work the interns were performing. Appendix E lists all of
the responding supervisors’ comments and suggestions. Here are a few selected ones:
Requiring interns to submit a video was not executed well.
This can't just be an engineering focused program. It is silly to have admin interns being
mentored by engineering professors. It is my job to mentor my intern and provide him with
resources and connections within the GIS field.
Let the applicants know of the potential working at night and over the weekend so that they are
aware of the potential work hours before applying.
Make mentoring the responsibility of the supervisor or key employee in the intern's office.
It would save a little time to get all the training and certification classes out of the way before
starting.
When asked to rate the effectiveness of the summer intern program, the supervisors responded as
shown in Table 4.2. As noted, the numerical average exceeded 4 on a scale of 5 in all three
categories, which is a rating of very effective to highly effective.
Table 4.2. Summary of supervisor responses
Answer Options
Ineffective
1
Marginally
effective
2
Neutral
3
Very
effective
4
Highly
effective
5
Rating
Average
Out of 5
Response
Count
Providing you the
personnel to complete
your work load
0 0 2 4 4 4.2 10
Preparing the intern for
their professional career 0 0 0 7 2 4.22 9
Identifying potential
future employees 0 0 4 0 5 4.11 9
18
5. SUMMARY
5.1 Summary of Experiences and Recommendations
The following summarizes lessons learned from the summer 2013 internship mentoring program.
The lessons learned are provided in bullet points. Recommendations to address items that were a
concern are provided as separate paragraphs that follow the last eight bullet items (and are
highlighted in red text).
Most supervisors provided a mentor relationship with
their summer interns, and the interns appreciated the
efforts of their mentor.
The majority of the summer interns identified in their
final progress reports that they learned many new skills
and gained a better understanding of how projects are
constructed.
The Iowa DOT internship program was deemed successful overall by students. Almost half
of the summer interns that worked outside of the Ames Iowa DOT offices and 70 percent of
interns at the Ames offices replied that they definitely would or most likely would apply for
full-time employment with the Iowa DOT after graduation. Interns with even just one year of
engineering education prior to their internship found the learning experience very beneficial.
During the initial orientation presentation, ISU mentors emphasized that the internship is a
great opportunity to explore the career opportunities at the Iowa DOT and it is also the
opportunity for the Iowa DOT to get to know them as potential full-time employees. This
may have better prepared interns to consider employment in the long term with the Iowa
DOT.
Mentoring an intern on a remote job site by ISU mentors proved to be very difficult and, by
the end of the summer, it was difficult to connect and mentor every intern that worked
outside of the Ames offices. This mentoring proved to be very difficult due to the lack of
face-to-face communication. Whereas, the interns that were based in Ames were very
accessible to the ISU faculty member and that allowed mentoring during face-to-face
meetings over lunch.
ISU mentors attempted to visit each intern during the previous year’s mentoring program.
This proved too time and resource intensive for the ISU team and was modified to phone
contacts for remote interns for the 2013 program. As noted, this was less effective. The in-
person mentoring for 2013 appeared to be very effective but is only realistic for interns at the
Ames Iowa DOT offices.
If future mentoring is provided for the Iowa DOT internship program, the team suggests
providing remote interns with ISU mentor contact information but otherwise not using
resources to attempt to contact these interns.
More than 50% of off-site
and 70% of Ames-based
interns said they would be
likely to apply for full-time
employment with the Iowa
DOT after graduation
19
Remote interns submitted all progress reports, so this aspect of the mentoring process could
be retained. In addition, ISU mentors could make site visits to a few select offices that are
interested and have a sufficient number of interns to make the visits cost effective. In these
cases, it may be best to work with intern supervisors who are motived to improve their
mentoring skills and leave the mentoring to the interns’ supervisors.
For interns stationed in Ames, the ISU mentoring experience appeared to be more fruitful.
An additional benefit of discussing bigger picture issues beyond the scope of the internship
was more feasible. To truly establish the personal rapport that makes such mentoring
beneficial, interns and mentors should meet face-to-face at least in small group settings (no
more than five interns per meeting) a few times over the course of the summer. Such
meetings should be entirely voluntary on the part of the intern.
The face-to-face lunch meetings appeared to be beneficial. The team recommends
incorporating this as an informal task into future mentorship.
Mentoring interns that are not engineering students by engineering faculty created some
dissatisfaction with one supervisor.
The team suggests that the Iowa DOT considers assigning interns to offices with supervisors
who have the skills to mentor interns in their own fields.
Non-engineering interns may be more receptive to mentors with professional experience in
their own field. Feedback from such students this summer revealed that most of these
students were generally successful in establishing mentoring relationships with their Iowa
DOT supervisors.
The initial orientation session that was held in mid-May proved to be effective in
communicating the overall expectations of the DOT to the new interns. For interns that will
work in materials testing and inspections, several supervisors suggested that all certification
of interns in the many materials testing methods be completed before sending the intern to
the remote Iowa DOT office.
It is recommended that the Iowa DOT continue with the orientation workshops. For the
summer interns assigned to remote offices and job duties that include materials testing, the
initial training and certification of each intern should be completed prior to sending the intern
to the remote office. This training and certification could potentially be done during the
orientation workshops.
Most supervisors seemed prepared for summer interns and worked to make the experience
positive. Most field office supervisors commented that they specifically planned to vary the
type of field experiences that their intern received in an effort to broaden the student’s
experiences.
It is not known how many supervisors utilized the discipline-specific material that was
developed. However, it appears that supervisors and interns benefit from having suggestions
as to what activities interns can complete to draw links to what they learn in the classroom.
20
Alternatively, it may be useful to poll supervisors to determine what material could be
reinforced in the classroom to help students as they prepare to enter the workforce.
The communications between ISU mentors and Iowa DOT supervisors sparked several
useful conversations. Cormicle worked with supervisors in the remote offices and was able to
answer the supervisors’ questions and listen to their concerns. From these conversations,
Cormicle developed the list of questions for the Supervisors Survey. In return, the survey
results repeated almost every suggested improvement and concern that the supervisors
shared. The ISU mentors felt that one of the greatest values offered was in connecting with
the supervisors, answering their questions, and gathering their input.
The team recommends continuing the supervisor surveys, which can provide useful feedback
to the Iowa DOT in improving the internship program.
Common complaints from interns about the overall internship experience include the
following: disappointment in the level of challenge of the work assignments, supervisors
being unprepared at the beginning of the summer to use the intern productively, and down
time due to weather.
When a supervisor is deciding to hire an intern, a written plan should be developed outlining
planned duties, educational components, and day-to-day supervision. Faculty mentors could
participate in this process before internships begin to initiate a continuous improvement plan
for the internship program.
One suggestion is to have a long-term, high-challenge project in place for each intern to work
on during slow times. This could get interns more invested in the DOT, relieve pressure on
supervisors to keep interns busy, help identify highly-motivated students, generate topics for
research, and potentially promote unconventional approaches to long-standing difficulties.
Another possibility might be to rotate interns between different offices in mid-summer to
provide the intern more variety in the types of field experiences.
One intern who had also had an internship with the DOT last summer doing field work stated
that the field work helped him tremendously in gaining perspective on his office internship in
the current summer as well as his courses at ISU. Perhaps younger interns should be directed
toward field work while more advanced students should be directed to office/laboratory
postings.
The Iowa DOT could consider holding a workshop between mentors and Iowa DOT
supervisors similar to the internship orientation workshop. The meeting could be held via
video or teleconference. The objective would be to help supervisors plan components of the
internship before they begin. This could become part of a continuous improvement plan for
the intern program as a whole.
The intern video assignment was productive but concerns were expressed. Even with several
email messages to all summer interns by ISU faculty and Iowa DOT staff, interns found the
video portion of their final report somewhat confusing and unclear how to complete.
21
It was difficult to follow up and have interns complete the video assignments. It may be more
useful to have an Iowa DOT or InTrans media person contact a few select students, make
appointments, and videotape and process the videos. If the Iowa DOT wishes to continue
having all interns make a video, the best solution would be to require Iowa DOT intern
supervisors to work with the students to finalize this.
The video assignments were productive, but technology for handling large files should be
researched and in place to streamline submission of the videos. A reward for producing the
best video could enhance student effort on this assignment.
5.2 Program Benefits
Several benefits resulted from the mentoring program. Benefits for the Iowa DOT include the
following:
The experiences provided by the mentoring program
made the internship more productive, which is likely
to lead to a larger number of students considering the
Iowa DOT for employment after graduation.
Mentoring experts were able to provide their
expertise without requiring the additional Iowa DOT
staff.
Students generally appreciated having a resource outside the DOT to whom they could turn
for advice for workplace conflicts. Such conflicts did and do arise occasionally in many work
environments. In one instance, the ISU mentors served as an outside advocate to help
troubleshoot workplace conflicts that could have resulted in interns terminating their
internship with the DOT. Instead of leaving with a bad experience, which may have been
communicated to future potential interns and workers, the issues were resolved in a positive
manner benefiting both the Iowa DOT and interns.
The “menu” of experiences developed for each field provided interested supervisors with
additional tools to make the internship more meaningful.
Several benefits resulted for the interns, including the following:
The field-specific “menu” of beneficial activities and experiences developed by ISU
provided ideas for supervisors to enhance the educational experience of their interns as well
as provided opportunities for enterprising interns to seek out.
The field-specific progress report templates provided to interns guided them to track their
activities, reflect on their internship experience, and consider their future careers.
The main benefit is that
student interns may be more
likely to consider a career
with the Iowa DOT after
graduation
22
Serving as an intern advocate outside of the DOT organization allowed ISU mentors to help
troubleshoot workplace conflicts that may seem particularly acute to short-term interns.
Reviewing progress reports allowed mentors to assess the educational component of intern
work assignments and make suggestions as deemed appropriate.
Meeting face-to-face for interns stationed in Ames provided an opportunity to discuss big-
picture issues that often get pushed aside in students’ daily lives. Such issues included living
in Ames, the DOT work environment, career goals, work-family priorities, real-world
engineering challenges, and career experiences.
The program helps foster ongoing relationships between faculty and students.
The initiative provided an organization-wide perspective and critique regarding a very large
intern development program.
27
APPENDIX B. DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC MATERIAL
Material Provided to All Interns
Project Dates
1. Communication
Participate in/Observe meetings
Make a formal presentation to supervisor or other construction team members
Write a formal report to supervisor
Write a memorandum to supervisor or construction team
Make a short video presentation about your experience as an IDOT intern
Write a hand-written thank-you to someone who helped improve your intern experience
2. Understand business relationships/team building
Attend a public hearing
Attend a preconstruction meeting
Attend a prebid meeting
Observe a bid letting
Learn about pre-qualification and bid requirements
3. Application of Commercial Software
Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access)
Other software applications (name or list)
Material for Interns in Construction
Project Dates
Construction Observation
Observe/inspect different phases of construction for a bridge project
Foundations
Vertical structures
Beams and Decks
Approaches
Observe/inspect different phases of construction for a road project
Demolition/patching of pavement
Grinding and surface preparation of pavement
ACC Pavement: inspection and QC/QA
PCC Pavement: inspection and QC/QA
Jobsite and Traffic Safety
Tasks
Field observations and inspections
Quantity surveys
Certification of quantities
Materials testing: concrete, soils, aggregates, hot-mix asphalt
28
Material for Interns in Human Resources
Project Dates
Human Resources Department
Manage data base for Pre-qualifications of DBE vendors (suppliers and contractors)
Manage personnel data base (demographic data analysis)
Develop Employee Safety Training materials
Material for Interns in Marketing
Project Dates
Marketing
Orient yourself with the web content management system that your
unit provides. Popular web content management systems include
WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!, etc.
Become familiar with the style of writing appropriate for websites.
Associated Press style is the publishing style of choice for
communicating to a lay audience.
For news articles, learn search engine optimization (SEO) writing
style.
Learn design software that assists in web publishing
Study the audience for which you provide content.
Integrate one-way, two-way, or social communication within
website, even if it means linking to social media pages
Create a Google Analytics account for your website.
Material for Interns in Environmental
Project Dates
Location and Environment
Help prepare an environmental impact statement
Develop site specific plans for wetland mitigation
Develop site specific plans for stream mitigation
Learn air-quality management strategies
Use GIS to catalog and manage environmental data
Determine run-off flow and help design drainage plan
29
Material for Interns in Finance
Project Dates
Accounting
Familiarize yourself with the Iowa DOT chart of accounts and what constitutes their accounting cycle
Learn how source documents are reviewed, approved, and posted to chart of accounts
Depending on the division assigned learn about budgeting items, budget development, and budget process timelines
Learn about accounting deadlines and importance of deadlines
Practice communicating accounting information to non-accountants
Material for Interns in Materials
Project Dates
Materials
Observe lab and field tests for AC pavements
Sampling, sieve analysis, specific gravity, binder tests, volumetrics
Perform a flexible pavement analysis and design
Marshall mix design, AASHTO and AI techniques, Superpave
Observe lab and field tests for PC pavements
Aggregate tests, cement tests, slump, air, MOR, compressive str.,
Splitting tensile, coring, smoothness testing, joint sealing, etc.
Perform a rigid pavement analysis and design
PCC mix design, AASHTO and PCA techniques
Observe lab and field test for unbound materials
Sampling, consistency, classification, compaction, strength, etc.
Observe non-destructive testing for ACC and PCC pavements
Learn retrofit and repair techniques for ACC and PCC pavements
30
Material for Interns in Traffic and Safety
Project Dates
Traffic and Safety
Conduct a spot speed study, calculate mean speed, standard deviation, 85th percentile speed, and 10 mph pace
Conduct an intersection turning moving count
Calculate the crash rate for a segment or intersection
Review a collision diagram and identify the most common crash types
Conduct a volume study, calculate ADT, headway, and fleet mix
Calculate LOS for an intersection or other roadway facility
Calculate the optimal phasing for a simple 2 phase intersection
Conduct a safety audit
Check sign and/or pavement marking retroreflectivity
Evaluate stop sign compliance
Conduct an environmental impact statement
Material for Interns in Highway Design
Project Dates
Highway Design
Conduct a location survey
Compute a mass diagram
Design a horizontal and/or vertical curve
participate in development of an environmental impact statement
Compute design hourly volume
Design a roadway cross-section
Design a bicycle or pedestrian facility
Determine run-off flow
Design a culvert
31
APPENDIX C. INTERN ORIENTATION AGENDA
2013 Summer Student Intern Program Iowa Department of Transportation
Ames, IA
SPEAKER TOPIC
7:30-8:00 AM CHECK IN
8:00-8:10 AM Max Grogg / DOT Staff Welcome and FHWA comments
8:10-8:40 AM Von Richards / Rhonda
Giebelstein
Vehicle Accident Response: What to do
8:40-9:40 AM Mike Harvey Defensive driving, Driving requirements
9:40-9:50 AM BREAK
9:50-10:00 AM Jim Peters Worker’s Compensation
10:00-10:15 AM Kelly Bunting / Linda
Thede
Expenses & Reimbursement: Time sheet, Expense sheet,
Travel PPM
10:15-10:35 AM Linda Anderson Policy/PPM Info (email, workplace behavior, smoking policy)
10:35-10:45 AM BREAK
10:45-11:45 AM Matt Rouse / Larry
Cormicle
Introduction, discuss mentoring program, Intern Report
preparation, participation and expectations, final presentation video, completion deadlines (examples of
videos from past interns and coop students)
11:45 AM-12:45
PM
Lunch On your own
1:00-1:30 PM Jim Peters Work Zone Emergency Response
1:30 PM Non-engineering
students are dismissed.
If possible, return to your assigned work
location.
1:30-2:30 PM Mark Bortle Work Zone day-time vs. night-time safety issues. Temporary work site traffic control
2:30-2:45 PM BREAK
2:45-4:15 PM Jim Peters / Mike
Harvey
Work Zone General Safety Basics/PPM
Personal Safety Protection Equipment/ PPE Working around large machinery
Confined Space: Work site procedures and risk avoidance Trenching work site procedures and risk avoidance
4:15-4:30 PM Wrap Up
33
APPENDIX D. SUPERVISOR SURVEY
Iowa DOT Supervisor's End of Summer Intern Program Survey-Summer
INTRODUCTION
As part of the Iowa Department of Transportation Summer Internship program for the Summer of 2013, we are requesting that all Iowa DOT Supervisors complete this end of work term survey Responses to this survey will be gathered and shared with the Iowa DOT management team in an effort to judge the effectiveness and success of this intern program. You are encouraged to answer all questions and complete responses to all requests for feedback.
The survey is structured as a "PLUS" -"DELTA" survey.
In other words, "What went well with the summer intern program?" "What improvements would you suggest to make the summer intern program more effective?"
All respondents must identify themselves, yet your responses will not have names attached to them. Submitting your name as a supervisor is used to track the goal of full responses to the supervisor survey.
Page 1
34
Iowa DOT Supervisor's End of Summer Intern Program Survey-Summer ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*1. What is your first name?
*2. What is your last name?
* 3. What is the job title for your current position?
*4. What is your Iowa DOT email address?
*s. At which Iowa DOT location do you work?
*6. What is your Iowa DOT office phone number?
* 7. List the name(s) of the student intern employees that worked under your supervision
this summer. Intern employee's first and
name:
Intern employee's first and
name:
Intern employee's first and
name:
Intern employee's first and
name:
Intern employee's first and
name:
Intern employee's first and
name:
Intern employee's first and
name:
Intern employee's first and
name:
*a. Please comment on the overall effectiveness of the summer intern program.
Page 2
35
Iowa DOT Supervisor's End of Summer Intern Program Survey-Summer
*9. What features of the summer intern program did you find worked well?
10. What features or parts of the summer internship program could be improved?
* 11. How would you suggest the summer internship program be changed in a future
summer to improve it overall?
12. Please rate the effectiveness of the summer intern program by completing the chart
below:
Ineffective Marginally
Neutral Very effective Highly effective N/A effective
Providing you the personnel 0 0 0 0 0 0 to complete your work load
Preparing the intern for 0 0 0 0 0 0 their professional career
Identifying potential future 0 0 0 0 0 0 employees
Other (please specify)
13. What skills should the student interns be trained in prior to being sent to work at your
location? (i.e. materials testing certification, etc ... )
14. How prepared was the intern to work on their intern job duties and responsibilities?
Intern preparedness for
intern job duties and
responsibilities
Not prepared
0 Somewhat prepared
0 Prepared Well prepared Highly prepared
0 0 0
Page 3
36
Iowa DOT Supervisor's End of Summer Intern Program Survey-Summer ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY
Thank you for your participation in this survey Your input will be shared with the Iowa DOT management team and all comments and suggestions will be summarized for further consideration.
Please contact Larry Cormicle if you are experiencing any difficulties in completing and submitting this supervisor's survey
Larry W Cormicle, PE Iowa state University 454 Town Engineering Building Ames, lA 50011 Phone: 51~29~8299 Email [email protected]
Page 4
37
APPENDIX E. SUPERVISOR SURVEY RESPONSES
Responses to the Supervisor Survey are included in this appendix. (Questions 1 through 7
gathered identification information, as shown in in Appendix D, and are not included here.)
Q8. Please comment on the overall effectiveness of the summer intern program.
Very effective
this was great, not only did the students learned something I got a valuable resource in return
I thought it worked very well. Our 2 interns were able to develop final plans for 4 different
projects using several of our design automation tools
We were very fortunate to have 3 excellent interns working for us. All 3 would be welcomed
back at any time.
Overall program parameters work well for both the Department and interns.
The summer intern program was very effective in all aspects. As the DOT, we were able to
work with some bright young students that may become part of the DOT in the future. The
help they provided allowed us to survive a summer when our assets were stretched.
The students learned quickly and were able to assist inspection staff with projects effectively.
I feel the summer intern program is great opportunity for the interns to get an idea for the
type of engineering they plan to pursue.
I believe the program is positive. Summer help, Internships, or Co-op programs are excellent
for the intern and the employer. We were able to cover staffing gaps while providing the
students an opportunity to learn hands on.
Overall, the program was excellent. The interns were incredibly talented and became
valuable members of our team. There were some glitches in regards to communication with
the program and the mentoring piece administered through Iowa State was convoluted and
not executed well.
It seemed to work okay. Fortunately, I only had one intern who performed very well.
I got pretty lucky this time with an intern who is intelligent and a go getter. He has been able
to follow instructions well and provide added value. I am very pleased he is willing to stay on
through the school year to maintain continuity.
It is a great program to help future engineers to gain practical experience and also help with
inspection in the field.
I felt the internship with the Office of Location and Environment offered the students a
professional learning environment. We were fortunate to have a very eager group of students
and I think their willingness to learn new things was appreciated.
Q9. What features of the summer intern program did you find worked well?
Students were very positive and eager to learn.
rotated interns to different types of work
Full-Time commitment Junior/Senior experience
Our three interns were hard workers and caught on well to the construction/survey process.
Orientation adequately prepared the intern for work with minimal effort required from the
assigned office
38
We were able to rotate our interns through the separate areas allowing them to work a variety
of assignments.
Ease of selection and hiring.
I liked the interns being put on the RMS timesheet system.
The hands on work the interns were able to perform.
Having the opportunity to have interns full-time.
As with any intern program, they not only help us fill a staffing void, but possibly improve
our ability to hire experienced interns full-time.
40 hours a week of focus have been great.
Additional help with inspection.
Our office developed a learning plan and objectives. At the end of their internship we had
them do a presentation on what they learned (research topic).
Q10. What features or parts of the summer internship program could be improved?
none
I felt bad that our office was slow this summer as far as construction work was concerned. I
would have liked to get them a lot more experience.
Have the interns provide more specific information about their personal interests and goals as
well as abilities and skills as part of the application and screening process...
No changes.
Wish they could stay another month in the fall, but school starts. If material cert classes could
be taught as part of the university curriculum, then spring start up could be quicker
The evaluation portion. Many of the questions are difficult to answer as the role the intern
has does not necessarily provide them an opportunity to be involved the extensive questions
listed. The goal is to get real world experience for the intern. Some of the questions are
difficult to apply.
Requiring interns to submit a video was not executed well. The necessary quality, scope of
video was not communicated. The full role the videographer would play was not discussed
with Strategic Comm/videographer ahead of time and was miscommunicated to interns.
Also, logistics of the video submission process were not explored ahead of time and
communicated to the interns. Also, much of the communication to the interns, especially
from the ISU mentors were sent to their school addresses which weren't checked regularly.
This meant my interns missed appointments with their mentor. ISU mentors were also
engineering professors who could not relate to the experiences my interns were having in the
communications field.
I can’t think of any now that we hire the intern (as opposed to last year where they were hired
by a consultant and loaned to us).
This can't just be an engineering focused program. It is silly to have admin interns being
mentored by engineering professors. It is my job to mentor my intern and provide him with
resources and connections within the GIS field. As the chair of the Iowa GIS group right now
you should leverage some of these professional groups if you want everyday professionals
helping guide these kids in their future careers.
Let the applicants know of the potential working at night and over the weekend so that they
are aware of the potential work hours before applying.
Since not all of the interns were from Iowa State, I felt that some of our interns were
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confused about their obligations. I felt the communication on what was expected from the
students may have been a little better. Our interns were not clear on the objective for most of
their tasks assigned to them from their mentor.
Q11. How would you suggest the summer internship program be changed in a future
summer to improve it overall?
Provide a more condensed, streamlined training (fewer days, all in the same week).
Allow extra hours
Provisions to continue part time thru the following semester.
Would be nice to have them here until the end of the first semester.
See no 10... overall been pleased with the program and desire to seek input from both the
department and interns with an interest to make improvements that benefit all...
No changes.
Allow for a couple of coop students to stay thru the fall
Seems to be working fine.
I have no suggestions.
Make mentoring the responsibility of the supervisor or key employee in the intern's office.
Have key subject areas or questions they need to go over to guide them and make it a
requirement that they meet for a set amount of time on a regular basis (so they schedule the
time.) Give students the option to do a summary of the program in a format they are
comfortable with: written paper, video, PPT/Prezi presentation etc. Make sure once an intern
has a DOT address that communication is coming to that email, not their school email. Make
sure communication is clear, well spelled out and if DOT staff is supposed to deliver
something make sure they can deliver it before you communicate it to the interns. Finally,
your form on question #12 doesn't allow you to rate each area. I would rate them all as
“Highly Effective.”
No suggestions.
Have a separate focus/training/requirements for non-engineering based positions. Go at this
with the assumption that this will be a 12 month program for some of the kids so they can
make plans farther in advance if they end up being a good fit.
It would save a little time to get all the training and certification classes out of the way before
starting.
There is always room for improvement, but I cannot think of anything specific. Maybe
written objectives and task lists would be beneficial and they should be shared with the
supervisor.
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Q12. Please rate the effectiveness of the summer intern program by completing the chart
below (summary of results are filled in here):
Answer Options
Ineffective
1
Marginally
effective
2
Neutral
3
Very
effective
4
Highly
effective
5
Rating
Average
Out of 5
Response
Count
Providing you the
personnel to complete
your work load
0 0 2 4 4 4.2 10
Preparing the intern for
their professional career 0 0 0 7 2 4.22 9
Identifying potential
future employees 0 0 4 0 5 4.11 9
Q13. What skills should the student interns be trained in prior to being sent to work at
your location? (i.e., materials testing certification, etc...)
material testing in associated to construction
Survey Roadway Design
nothing to add
not as much about technical skills as much as personnel interest, attitude and a high desire to
learn and work...
The interns need to have Aggregate 1 & 2, PCC1 and HMA sampler at a minimum. These
certifications can be completed at the beginning of the summer.
Materials testing certifications
Materials testing
The training will be done on site. The materials testing is something that we did within the
District. I view most all the training needed would be provided by the work location.
My interns came in with the necessary skills.
Agg 1 & 2, PCC 1 and HMA Sampler Certifications under the IA DOT Certification courses
(which can and was structured very well prior to coming to work for us). Also, just basic
reporting skills.
Basic GIS software skills
Materials certifications.
How to use GIS and GPS equipment and have familiarity with CAD software (specifically
MicroStation).
Q14. How prepared was the intern to work on their intern job duties and responsibilities?
(summary of results are filled in here)
Answer Options
Not
prepared
1
Somewhat
prepared
2
Prepared
3
Well
prepared
4
Highly
prepared
5
Rating
Average
Out of 5
Response
Count
Intern preparedness for
intern job duties and
responsibilities
0 2 3 7 2 3.64 14